Red Rave Energy Drink
Cost: $2.29 16 oz
Taste: 8
Power: 8
The good stuff: Taurine, Caffeine
Ok, so I’m back after another caffeine free vacation…..It was getting to that point again where I kinda felt the need to let my tolerance for this stuff drop down a bit so that I could keep my reviews accurate. When you get to the point that 2 energy drinks back to back have little to no effect you sometimes have to step back and ask “What the hell am I doing to myself?” and then take a bit of time off before your heart explodes from something as simple as finding out that the batteries in your TV remote are dead….so here I am
I first tried Red Rave when I was up in North Texas about 2 years back. At the time it was an energy drink like no other for me and I searched all over the place when I got back into Austin for it to no avail. This past weekend I stumbled onto a convenience store in Kerrville Texas that had a cooler full of the stuff so I decided to buy a couple of cans and throw down a review. For the past couple of years it has kind of been a holy grail for me based on that one can I stumbled across in Folydada Texas….and here we are. First off, I have to say that my memory must suck ass. I distinctly remember the flavor being similar to a Big Red type drink (and I pity any of you who have not had the chance to down a Big Red…think red cream soda and you are close) so I was actually a bit disappointed when I finally opened up a can some 2 years after trying my first one. Instead of getting that red soda goodness I was instead treated to a flavor similar to Rush energy….yes folks, Red Rave tastes a LOT like Rush. It’s got that strawberry flavor that I really do like a lot, but when you are expecting one thing and end up getting another it sometimes throws you pretty hard. Think about when order a drink at a fast food place, go to take a sip of let’s say Dr. Pepper and end up with a Coke instead….Coke is not bad, but it sure tastes messed up as hell when your brain and mouth were prepared for the extra sweet taste of Dr. Pepper. That’s kind of what happened here…thank god I bought 2 cans…one to get me through the shock, and the second to actually use for a review. So…..all that being said, Red Rave is actually still a damn good energy drink. It is best described as a strawberry flavored energy drink that is not nearly as sweet as a strawberry soft drink. The flavor is much more pure and not nearly as sweet, but still not what I would consider a TRUE strawberry. It is essentially a not so refined version of Rush with a bit of that artificial, slightly vitamin flavor, hence the slightly lower score. Oddly enough though, Red Rave is still high on my list of energy drinks flavor wise. The strange flavor combined with the strawberry balances it out really well and while some days I might crave the extra sweet taste of Rush, others Red Rave would definitely be my choice of the two.
The overall power of Red Rave is what really pulls it apart from Rush for me however. Red Rave gives you a nice solid boost that seems to last a lot longer than what you get with other energy drinks of this size….Rush included. About 10 minutes into opening up a can I started to feel myself becoming more alert and awake…this has lasted for about an hour now (though I was milking the can for about 45 minutes on the drive in to work). The cool part about this stuff is that it never over does the energy boost. It’s pretty nice and even all the way through. It’s not really something that is going to wire you at night, but it will definitely keep you going if you are out dancing, and it will really make a kick ass mixer….that being said, I found some really good recipes on the Red Rave web site that I would LOVE to try out myself…unfortunately, odds of me finding more anywhere around here are pretty slim so hopefully some of you folks out there will be able to put this info to some good use….anyway, here you go:
Red Cream soda
Red Rave, 1 oz. Vanilla vodka, splash coke.
Red Drop
Red Rave, Citron vodka, Lemon juice, sugar. Serve like a lemon drop.
Red Devil
Red Rave, 1/2 oz. Bacardi O, slight splash 151, light on fire.
http://www.redraveenergy.com
